It is pretty common for Asian people to use a phonetic version of their name in latin alphabet in the West. Would it be reasonable to do the same in reverse with your western name? Would it even be accepted by banks/government institutions?
Initially, when I applied for a bank account under the name of "Jack Middle Chen," they listed my name as "Jackmiddlechen." Just one name, like Cher. Chinese names don't have spaces so it made sense, but this of course made it impossible for me to pay online, where they require family and surnames separately.
So I went back and asked them to differentiate between my first, middle and last names, so they added spaces, without changing the order. So my name became "Jack Middle Chen," where "Jack" was my last name and "Middle Chen" was my first name.
So I went back and asked them to change the order, because it's obviously wrong. So they changed my name to "Chen Middle Jack." Where Chen is now my correct family name, but my new first name is now "Middle Jack."
So I went back and asked them to change my first name to "Jack" because "Middle" is my middle name. But of course, Chinese don't have middle names so they don't have a field for that. So my first name then became "Jack Middle." Which is fine.
The issue is that my names now all had spaces. Chinese names don't have spaces, as mentioned, so to separate my alpha numeric names, they literally had to insert the space character into my name. So when I try to shop online, my name doesn't match because my official registered name has several space character somewhere in there, encoded in a weird way.
So at this point, I go back and try to clarify what my name actually is in their records. I tell them just to make it look exactly like my passport. So now my name is "JACK MIDDLE CHEN," all caps. I still have no idea what my first name and last name is but I've given up shopping online with this card, and since it matches my passport exactly, I can use it at the bank, which is good enough for me.
*Name altered for anonymity
No. You can choose a Chinese name (or have one chosen for you) to make life easier for your Chinese friends and colleagues, but your bank account etc. will use your real name.
The name on your bank account is likely to be on of the below, depending on which bank you use, and what type of day the teller is having:
SURNAMEFORENAME
FORENAMESURNAME
FORENAMEMIDDLESURNAME
And you need to know what it is, because without the correct name it's impossible to receive inbound bank transfers, or to link your bank card with WeChat/AliPay. Your name is not usually printed on your bank card, which you are given as soon as you open the account.
A daily use of ateji is for abbreviations for country:
仏 fu, 仏蘭西, France 英 ei from 英吉利, England 米 from 亜米利加, America 露 from 露西亞, Russia
One that uses katakana: ソ from ソビエト連邦, Soviet Union
Usage: 米ドル bei doru, US dollar, 英国 United Kingdom
米 is used for America because 亜 was already an abbreviation for 亜細亜, Asia.
Successfully have name in latin characters with bank (CCB & CMB & Citi) and it links to Wepay and Alipay.
Done Chinese name. Work permit has Chinese name (Hanzi) and that's linked to passport. Can be used to open an account (CB).
Though it's so much easier now than a decade ago.